Asylum: Parliament and Council reach a deal to update safe third country rules  

This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament.

• New conditions to allow member states to decide that a non-EU country is safe for an asylum applicant  
• EU countries will be able to conclude agreements with third countries where requests for protection would be examined  
• Appeal against decision to declare asylum application inadmissible would not automatically suspend a return decision to a safe third country 

Parliament and Council negotiators have reached a political agreement on updates to the 2024 Asylum Law regarding the conditions for applying the rules on safe third countries.

On Thursday the Civil Liberties Committee and Council negotiating teams informally agreed new rules under which member states may decide that a non-EU country is a safe third country (STC) with respect to an asylum applicant who is not a national of that country, and may therefore declare their application inadmissible. The deal builds on a proposal by the Commission to update this provision in the Asylum Procedure Regulation.

The new rules would allow EU countries to apply the STC concept in individual cases where one of these three conditions is met:

• there is a connection between the applicant and a third country; this connection may be considered established if members of the applicant’s family are present in the third country concerned, if the applicant stayed there previously, or if there are linguistic, cultural or similar links.
• applicants have transited through a third country on the way to the EU, where they could have requested effective
• an agreement or arrangement exists with a third country at bilateral, multilateral or Union level for the admission of asylum seekers.

Upon conclusion of an agreement or arrangement with a third country, EU countries should inform the Commission and other member states before they are provisionally applied, or enter into force, whichever is the earliest. The European Parliament should also be informed about agreements or arrangements at EU level relating to the safe third country concept.

Unaccompanied minors will be exempt from the application of safe third country rules on the basis of agreements and arrangements with third countries.

In security cases, rules relating to unaccompanied minors will apply as agreed in the Asylum Procedure Regulation, including provisions on accelerated and border procedures.

In line with the Commission proposal, applicants should not have an automatic right to remain in the member state where they requested asylum while an appeal to an inadmissibility decision is being resolved.

Quote

Rapporteur Lena Düpont (EPP, Germany) said: ” With the Safe Third Country Regulation, we are making migration policies credible and operational. As one of the remaining missing pieces of the common European asylum system, this brings long-needed coherence and gives member states the flexibility they need to apply the concept effectively and consistently. We want to remove obstacles and ensure that asylum procedures, including return procedures, are faster, clearer and more effective – which is essential to reduce irregular migration and increase returns. We want to ensure protection is granted where needed, but not automatically inside the EU, if safe and effective protection can be guaranteed elsewhere. Citizens expected us to deliver, and we did.”

Next steps

The agreement needs to be formally adopted by Parliament and Council before it can enter into force.

Background

The Asylum Procedure Regulation (APR), adopted in May 2024 as part of the Migration and Asylum Pact, will apply from 12 June 2026.

Application of the safe third country concept is not mandatory and not all EU countries apply it in practice. Detailed information available here (see the table at the end of it).